So my players recently went up against the BBEG, and ended up getting their asses handed to them. They were mad. I felt good about it.
Do any of you guys have fun examples of the BBEG winning?
This time I blame the PCs for not actually trying to find out the BBEG's abilities, and simply assuming that if they could make it to him that they would win.
>"Alright guys, the boss dude steps out with his entourage of shield guys and a pair of cross-"
>We attack the leader
>Are you sure? He's not-
>We ATTACK
And that's how they wasted their best skills right at the start, at least in my case.
>>44365201
Our playgroup isn't a big fan of DM vs player conflict, so the BBEG doesn't tend to win in the end.
I guess different people enjoy different things, though.
>Players arrive at the end of the chapter of the campaign.
>They are fighting the female leader of an evil Cult.
>They do this after a whole dungeon of tough enemies.
>They blast her with their best abilities to burn her down quickly.
>She dies.
>They're cheering and searching the room.
>All the sudden the statue of her god starts rusting and molding over, and her body is lifted into the air and pulled, twisted, broken, and shaped into this vaguely-humanoid looking female form with a dress and crown made from the Cult Leader's skin and sinew.
>This new enemy proceeds to beat the absolute shit out of the party.
And that was the day they learned that it's probably not a good idea to ever be cocky about how cool you were blowing your big moves in combat until you're far away and safe in your home after the battle.
>BBEG beats the shit out of us
>Recruits us as his new henchmen since we killed all of his to get to him
>Turns out to be a pretty funny guy and nice to his "friends" he calls us, if they're loyal
>Continue the game with him as the boss, trying to pull off wacky capers and actions against other villains of a sort of BBEG council of villains, of which our BBEG is a ridiculed member
It was pretty fun helping our Lich boss try to raise higher up in the council in terms of respect and play pranks and shit against the other villains. We thought we were going to have to do evil shit like kicking puppies, but it was all rather petty since most of them were more interested in looking like the more evil villain than actually raiding towns or performing forbidden rituals.
>>44366279
That sounds wonderful
>Hey guys, Count Vampula is throwing a party and didn't invite me
>Make some fake invitations and pass them out to adventurers
>>44365201
Well, there was one time the all-female party ended up as the villain's harem. It's not really a TPK, because it was consensual.
>>44366279
This kind of sounds like aXorvintaalgame.
I can't think of any specific examples of my own, but I do occasionally use it if the PCs are getting really cocky and thinking they can take anything.
>>44366366
The funny thing was we weren't the only group of adventurers to have been beaten up and coerced into working for their respective villain.
>>44366459
Details, man? How the fuck did this happen?
>>44366674
It's a long story, but this was basically a gothic-horror themed game. You know, leather boots, pistols, whips, those weird pirate hats and so on. Basically, the party (Fighter, Gunslinger, Sorceress, Cleric) were on the trail of a powerful Vampire that sought to surpass his condition, and become a necromantic God. He was basically an evil hedonist in life.
Now, you're probably thinking - "Vampires - Twilight - Bitches get wet." I actually started out trying to avert this. He was kind of like the chortling slug-prince corrupt noble you'd read about in novels, who happened to be a vampire and a necromancer. So a fat hedonist: He was the former Lord of a great house stuck in internecine conflict, and he ultimately triumphed over his family members and rebellious offspring by killing everyone. Then he used their blood to transform himself into a vampire. Unfortunately, he was sealed in a place called the 'Opal Spire', and was trapped inside for the longest time. Most of the campaign was the villain carefully moving things into place so he could escape.
Effectively, the party was seduced one after another. Now, I'll say in my defense that I didn't start out with the intention of having the girls seduced. But a certain level of corruption and temptation is inherent to gothic horror, and I wanted to capture some of that atmosphere. As you can tell, the setup is that they're trying to thwart his undead minions/his cult that is trying to free him by retrieving powerful artifacts and other items. What I didn't expect is for the party to JUMP at temptation.
(Continued)
>>44367051
It all started with the Sorceress. The group found a haunted mansion with necromantic experiments, and animated statues that attacked him, basically an evil house combined with all kinds of weird stuff. Very "Herbert West: Reanimator". After clearing out the laboratory, the Sorceress discovered that the source of the haunt was a portrait of the villain (As a fat but virile old man) that had been imbued with a portion of his soul. The thing was, she didn't tell the others about it. In fact, she started flirting with the animated portrait and eventually made out with it. She insisted that the others set up camp in the mansion so they could 'discover what was going on', which was when the place really began to fuck with them.
Okay, I'm going to be blunt here. She sucked off the portrait. Basically, the image could reach out for a bit, never really enough to emerge fully. It didn't rule out kissing and fondling and, uh, oral service. The portrait told her that with a Spellcraft check, she could free the portion of the Vampire Lord's soul instead of destroying it, and she enthuastically agreed.
After that, when the party set up camp, the Fighter decided to sleep in the master bedroom. I'm pretty sure she knew what was going to happen, because she deliberately stripped down to lingerie before she went to sleep directly in the bed that used to belong to the Vampire Lord. She ended up in a dream where the two of them were having a private dinner with the fat degenerate working his wiles on her from across the table. This quickly escalated to footsie, and soon she was riding him in the very same bed for a bout of dream-sex.
(Continued)
>>44367156
>She sucked off the portrait.
>>44367051
Now, after releasing the fragment of the BBEG's soul, the BBEG's main body was warned about what was going on. At this point, the party was STILL camping out in the haunted manor. The Cleric found herself attacked in her sleep by a shadowy figure (Basically a variant shadow) and woke up to snatch her holy symbol just in time. But while she was holding it at bay, she had a little talk with it. Ultimately, she ended up inviting the variant undead creature into her bed, instead of alerting the rest of the party.
So that's three members of the party already compromised. I'll point out that at this point, the Gunslinger is the ONLY ONE who hasn't had some kind of tacit agreement with the villain. So the rest of the campaign proceeded as normal, until they reached the Grand Ball. Basically, the villain's growing necromantic taint was beginning to corrupt a small town. While roaming through his castle, the party briefly split up to cover more ground, and the Gunslinger found herself in a dance hall with eerie animated dancers. (Puppets, with a skeletal orchestra.) A ghostly version of the villain manifested, and invited her to have a little chat. This chat was conducted while the two of them were waltzing, and he shamelessly lavished praise on her and felt her up a little. And then it was time to retire to a little bedchamber to the side...
(One last part.)
>>44367313
So now the entire party is compromised. They're dealing with a cult that wants to free the Vampire Lord to tap on his power - But in the final battle, they took out the whole cult...AND COMPLETED THE RITUAL to free him. So all the mystic energy that was being channeled to bind him was used to empower him instead. He didn't make the jump to necromantic God, but he did basically become a mythic-level advanced Vampire. (He didn't vamp them earlier because only living people could conduct the ritual. After freeing them, he didn't turn them into vampires either, because being alive was part of their charm.)
The end of the game was the four girls basically doing the Brides of Dracula routine. A group of Paladins came to confront the fat degenerate when he was sitting on his big gothic throne, with the girls lounging all over him as his harem. He flicked his fingers at the new arrivals in a "My loves, deal with this" way, and the high-level PCs prepared to crush the invaders who'd got this far. It was basically a curb-stomp, since all of them were now maxed-out and carrying all kinds of unique and fashionable weapons. (A pair of infinite ammo revolvers that shot angry ghosts for the gunslinger, a big scythe for the Fighter, a diaphonous black gown that allowed instant metamagic for the Sorceress, and a staff that allowed the now-corrupted Cleric of the Vampire Lord that functioned as a Clerical Staff of the Magi.)
After that, they had lots of sex.
And that was it.
>>44367325
Seems pretty reasonable and less magical realm than it originally sounded like.
Mainly because this seems to be generally how vampires are.
>>44367363
Yeah, this game was played with female PCs, so I wasn't about to make it too creepy or weird. All of these encounters were consensual and actively player-engaged. (i.e. the campaign would work if they rejected his foul blandishments.)
At the same time, I didn't make him TOO rapey or forceful, because I didn't want to make the players uncomfortable. Apparently, being lecherous is a turn-on, however.
For those wondering about how the Sorceress's gown works, it uses the rules for Metamagic Gems from the Pathfinder Rival Guide, except that it holds up to five 'charges' that regenerate daily.
>>44367429
>>44367325
>>44367313
>>44367156
>>44367051
Congratulations, you win the thread. Everyone go home.
My players got mad because I had a rich merchant's carriage hold a metamagic rod the wizard could use, citing that "Wizards are fucking overpowered as hell".
>>44368023
I don't get it.
>>44368073
Players got mad that i gave the wizard a metamagic rod. They complained that wizards are overpowered already and allowing the wizard to own a metamagic rod would make it worse.
>>44366649
>Rival groups of adventurers all seeking to boost the status and power of their respective BBEG
That actually sounds like a fucking hilarious campaign.
>'Win' campaign by making a deal of non-violence with the BBEG after barely managing to KO him, costing the life of a character's brother
>Plan on going after the Aetherial being who is the embodiment of all things harmful and who gods won't even speak of for fear it will hear and take notice
Probably going to get killed but he already said he was gonna do it and he's nothing if not a man of his word.
>>44368440
Should mention that this thing is -possibly- responsible for the war between the BBEG and the character's people
>>44366649
>Various adventures all standing around outside the council of evil
>Just having a smoke and waiting for their respective villains to finish with their business
>Trading tips and stories about the shit they've had to pull.
>>44367325
Someone screencap this.
>>44365812
I feel this is a cop out, but only partially. I totally get where you're coming from about them being more cautious in battle, et cetera. However... this is the god damned BBEG we're talking about. You find a perfect opportunity to waste the chick before she can make a move on you. Everything considered, this is the best option, and it has nothing to do with being cocky. I imagine one or two of the players must have internally thought "so... you want us to spot the BBEG, and then wait to see what happens instead of wasting her, just incase actually USING our hard earned super dump spells ends up fucking us over because <sadistic GM> reasons? that's fair".
I feel both sides of the argument have a valid point, and it's up to the GM to weave a better story that at the very least drives has a subtle effect on how players approach the game instead of really big melodramatic 'fuck you's that end up with a campaign loss in two turns flat.
I'm conflicted about this.
>>44365719
I don't see how GM vs. Player conflict is related at all to the BBEG winning or losing. Can someone explain this mindset?
>>44373580
Think he's referring to the fact if the BBEG wins, players get upset, make conflict with the GM, the GM doesn't like to be looked at in any less-than-positive manner justified or not, little bitch syndrome, call it what you want, so the players 'win'.
I THINK that's the gist of it.
>>44366279
>RPing the Guild of Calamitous Intent
Shit man I want that.
>>44373684
I was under the impression that GM vs. Player was more like that one really badly drawn webcomic... Another Gaming Comic, I think it was called? Where the GM is actively adversarial to the PCs every step of the way and tries to come up with ingenious party-killing traps. Seems to me more like the players don't enjoying having to overcome strong opposition, which is strange to me. I find that a victory is much more satisfying if it's snatched from the jaws of defeat, or if it's achieved through clever tactics and strategic play. That might just be me, though.
>>44373842
Could be. Though, I'm still of the mind that anon was referring to little bitch syndrome.
>>44374099
I'd ditch a player if they came down with little bitch syndrome. Not sure why anyone would stick with one, either. No game is better than bad game.
>>44366279
I now have a campaign I need to DM.
